Commander Field Army

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Commander Field Army (CFA) is a senior British Army officer who has responsibility for generating and preparing forces for current and contingency operations. He reports to the Chief of the General Staff who has overall executive responsibility for the British Army.

From 1 April 1995 to 1 April 2008, the last of the British Army's field force commands was Land Command. From 1 April 2008, HQ Land Command, with elements of HQ Adjutant-General, became HQ Land Forces. From 1 November 2011, HQ Land Forces was subsumed within the new Army Headquarters; at the same time the Commander-in-Chief, Land Forces was integrated into the new Army Headquarters command structure as Commander Land Forces.

On 23 November 2015, it was announced that the post of Commander Land Forces would be renamed as Commander Field Army (CFA) as part of the Army Command Review. CFA has a major-general as Chief of Staff, and four brigadiers working under him: Assistant Chief of Staff Commitments, Assistant Chief of Staff Support, Assistant Chief of Staff Warfare and Assistant Chief of Staff Training.^[1]

As of 23 September 2020, the commanders listed below as well as Deputy Commander Field Army, Chief of Staff, Field Army and Director Land Warfare Centre fall under the command of CFA.^[2]

History[]

HQ Land Forces, Marlborough Lines, Andover

On 1 April 2008, HQ Land Command amalgamated with HQ Adjutant General under 'Project Hyperion' and became HQ Land Forces.^[3] It moved from Erskine Barracks to the former RAF Andover site now known as Marlborough Lines on 23 June 2010.^[4]

Headquarters Northern Ireland was reduced in status to 38th (Irish) Brigade on 1 January 2009.

Commander-in-Chief Land Forces (CINCLAND) also became the Standing Joint Commander (UK) (SJC (UK)), responsible for overall command to Ministry of Defence contributions to national crisis response activities within the United Kingdom (excluding Northern Ireland).^[5]

Under another reorganisation effective from 1 November 2011 the Chief of the General Staff took direct command of the Army through a new structure, based at Andover, known as "Army Headquarters".^[6][7][8] Within this new organisation, the rank of Commander, Land Forces was shifted to that of a three-star instead of the former four-star rank.^[9] The post of Commander-in-Chief, Land Forces ceased to exist.^[7]

Following the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010, the government announced significant changes to the structure of the formations under Land Forces that would be implemented from 2010 - 2020:^[10]

• Field Army: By 2020, the total withdrawal of British forces stationed in Germany will be complete, and the Army's operational structure will be formed around a total of five multi-role brigades (MRB); these will be taken from the two brigades currently stationed in Germany under 1st Armoured Division, and three of the four in the UK under 3rd Mechanised Division. To ensure costs are kept down, the MOD's proposal will be to station units as close as possible to training areas. In this process, 19 Light Brigade in Northern Ireland was disbanded.
• Regional Forces: While the regional forces elements have been retained at brigade level, with all ten regional brigades remaining as they are, the regional divisional HQs (2nd Division, 4th Division and 5th Division) were replaced with a single 2-star regional headquarters at Aldershot known as Support Command from Spring 2012.

This has been updated in the future plan commonly known as Army 2020.

When Personnel Support Command was established in 2015, it was decided that the role of SJC(UK) Commander was to transfer to Commander PSC in Aldershot. In due course PSC became Home Command.

On 23 November 2015, it was announced that the post of Commander Land Forces would be renamed as Commander Field Army as part of the Army Command Review.^[11] CFA will have four brigadiers under their command, namely: Assistant Chief of Staff Commitments, Assistant Chief of Staff Support, Assistant Chief of Staff Warfare and Assistant Chief of Staff Training.^[12]

Land Operations Command was established on 2 September 2019 as a staff branch within Headquarters Field Army in Andover. Through it, Commander Field Army conducts the planning, generation and operational control of all Field Army deployments.^[13]

Subordinate formations circa 2021[]

The current structure is as follows:^{[14][15][16][17][18]}

• Commander Field Army, at Trenchard Lines, Upavon:^[19] Lieutenant-General Ralph Wooddisse
  • (ComdCTG) — ComdCTG is a Brigadier's command which provides collective training for Commander Field Army^[20][21][22]
  • Commander Field Training Unit (ComdFTU) — ComdFTU is a 1 star command which provides training for the Field Army's light and mechanised battlegroups^[23]
  • 16th Air Assault Brigade, at Merville Barracks, Colchester Garrison:^[24] Brigadier James R. Martin
  • Joint Helicopter Command, at Marlborough Lines, Andover:^[25] Air Vice-Marshal Nigel Colman - reports to Chief of the General Staff^[26]
    • 1st Aviation Brigade, at Middle Wallop Flying Station^[27][28]
  • Land Warfare Centre, at Waterloo Lines, Warminster Garrison – oversees all specialist training and oversees the three overseas training units^[29]
    • British Army Training Unit Suffield, at CFB Suffield^[30]
    • British Army Training Unit Kenya, at Kifaru Barracks, Nairobi^[31]
    • British Army Training and Support Unit Belize, at Price Barracks, Ladyville^[29][32]
  • 1st (United Kingdom) Division, at Imphal Barracks, York: Major-General Charles Collins
    • 4th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters North East, at Bourlon Barracks, Catterick Garrison^[33]
    • 7th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters East, at Kendrew Barracks, Cottesmore^[34]
    • 11th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters South East, at Roebuck House, Aldershot Garrison^[35]
    • 51st Infantry Brigade and Headquarters Scotland,^[36] at Redford Barracks, Edinburgh^[37][38]
    • 8th Engineer Brigade, at Gibraltar Barracks, Minley^[39][40]
      • 12th (Force Support) Engineer Group, at RAF Wittering
      • 29th (Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search) Group, at Montgomery House, Aldershot Garrison^[41]
      • 170th (Infrastructure Support) Engineer Group, at Chetwynd Barracks, Chilwell^[42][43]
    • 102nd Logistic Brigade, at Prince William of Gloucester Barracks, Grantham^[44][45]
    • 104th Logistic Support Brigade, at Duke of Gloucester Barracks, South Cerney^[46]
    • 2nd Medical Brigade, at Queen Elizabeth Barracks, Strensall^[40][47]
    • 1st Military Police Brigade, at Marlborough Lines, Andover^[48][49]
  • 3rd (United Kingdom) Division, at Bulford Barracks, Bulford Camp:^[50] Major-General Michael Elviss
    • 7th Air Defence Group, at Baker Barracks, Thorney Island^[51][52]
    • 25th (Close Support) Engineer Group, at Picton Barracks, Bulford Camp^[53][54]
    • , at Queen Elizabeth Barracks, Strensall^[55][56][57]
    • 11th Signal Brigade and Headquarters West Midlands, at Venning Barracks, Donnington^[58][59]
      • 7th Signal Group,^[60][61] at Beacon Barracks, Stafford^[62][60][61]
    • 1st Armoured Infantry Brigade, at Delhi Barracks, Tidworth Camp (to become a 'Strike Brigade' by 2025).^[63][64]
      • , at Battlesbury Barracks, Warminster Garrison (a developmental command, overseen by HQ 1st Arm Inf Bde)^[65][66]
    • 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade, at Bulford Barracks, Bulford Camp^[67]
    • 20th Armoured Infantry Brigade, at Wing Barracks, Bulford Camp^[68]
    • 1st Artillery Brigade, at Jellalabad Barracks, Tidworth Camp^[69]
    • 101st Logistic Brigade, at Saint Omer Barracks, Aldershot Garrison^[70][71]
  • 6th (United Kingdom) Division, at Trenchard Lines, Upavon:^[50] Major-General James Bowder
    • 1st Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Brigade, at Trenchard Lines, Upavon^[72]
    • 1st (United Kingdom) Signal Brigade, at Imjin Barracks^[73]
    • Specialised Infantry Group, at Saint Omer Barracks, Aldershot Garrison^[74][75]
    • 77th Brigade, at Denison Barracks, Hermitage^[76][77]

Commanders[]

Commander Land Forces
Image	Rank	Name	Term began	Term ended
	General	Sir Nick Parker	November 2011	December 2012
	Lieutenant General	Sir Adrian Bradshaw[78]	January 2013	November 2013
	Lieutenant-General	Sir Nick Carter	November 2013	September 2014
	Lieutenant-General	Sir James Everard	September 2014	November 2015
Commander Field Army
Image	Rank	Name	Term began	Term ended
	Lieutenant General	Sir James Everard	November 2015	December 2016
	Lieutenant General	Patrick Sanders[79]	December 2016	March 2019
	Lieutenant General	Ivan Jones[80]	March 2019	April 2021
	Lieutenant General	Ralph Wooddisse[81]	April 2021

See also[]

• Fleet Commander

References[]

External links[]

• Army Command Structure as 2019
• A Guide to Invitations and Appointments for High Commissions and Embassies in London, Ministry of Defence, June 2006 edition